Tag Archive: rod holders

Today Wavewalk stopped offering the F model in the 500 series. The W500 F featured two flush mounted rod holders, and it was an iconic product for almost a decade. But flush mount rod holders are less popular these days, and our rotational molders asked us to make their job easier by simplifying our product line. Years ago, Rox discovered the clamp mounted rod holders, and since then we’ve been advising our clients to use these detachable and versatile rod holders instead of the fixed flush mounted ones, and indeed, these days most of them do. This advice has become more relevant in recent years, as a growing number of Wavewalk users outfit it with a motor, and no longer use the flush mount rod holders installed at the back of its cockpit, since rod holders and motors don’t go together well when they occupy the same place.

So, from now on, Wavewalk offers three kayak models: The W500 R, W700 R, and S4. No more W500 F

We will keep offering the Tite-Lok clamp mount rod holders as an optional accessory with all our kayak models.

Not sure if I’ll leave the windshield on, but I’ll know better after my next outing.

One thing I know for sure, if anyone wants those flush rod holders, don’t do it, if they plan on adding a motor, they get in the way of the mounts. I cut mine down and capped them so they won’t leak, and they’re are out of my way for storage.

I have a couple of showings with some friends who want to see the W700, hopefully it will bring in some sales.

By Pyt Rotary

Ontario, Canada

Lake Simcoe is a 280 square mile lake in Ontario.

12km/h [7 mph] with Honda 2Hp against wind of 24km/h [15 mph]

Lots of fun except my rocky mistake to not have enough gas with me. I got excited and let the boat run for 15km straight into the lake and realize I am out of gas. I paddled back half the distance and got gas from shore. Now I know… From now on I will carry enough gas with me. Luckily I paid with just one blister on my hand.

I did come back at night and feel SUPER SAFE in it. It is a great, fantastic boat.

(added comment) –

The S4 is SUPER, SUPER, SUPER stable. It does not sway at all. I have been in bigger boats with V shape hulls. Those boats don’t have the same stability on the water as the S4. The waves hammer them straight in the teeth. The catamaran design cut the waves like a knife cuts through butter. Definitely there is room for more HP on the S4.

It was my fist ever trip with a gas motor, I do use W500 with an electric motor but never played with gas before. Lots of fun. Now I can reach easily lots of my fishing spots. Regards from Ontario, Canada.

(added later) –

After 7 years of tests I think I found the best way to store the rods on Wavewalk, at least for me.

The challenge was in S4 where drilling on the back side where the gas engine reside is not much appealing to me. So what I did was to buy 2 Homer Tool boxes from Home depot $10 each and use the box to store dry different items at the tip of the S4. The end of the fishing rod where the reel is, rests on the box and the tip is secured on the upper side of the kayak with sticking Velcro (same Home Depot).

I had some exist on water testing and I can carry easily 4,5 fishing rods in S4. Since I like the concept I start to think how I can fit that in W500.

I got 2 plastic rings from dollar stores (shower curtains rings) and secure them with a round screw inside the tips on back side under the transom. The handle of the rods rest inside the rings, the tip of the rods is secured by same sticking Velcro in front of W500. 2 rods can be stored easily inside a W500 this way.

Now I am still in doubt to install the same rings in S4 as well since the setup is so successful for me in W500. I will still used the Tool boxes as storage (2L of gas, gloves, tackle, ropes, anchor).

By Dave Hernandez

I went fishing Sunday evening and caught me a 28″ Snook. Was a blast in the 700. My first snook in the 700. 🙂 Wavewalk kayak are a stable and versatile fishing platform. My choice is the W700 model that is rigged with Yak Attack and Launch pad rod holder accessories. I love fishing from my W700 alone or with a friend.

You may have an outfitting project in mind, such as attaching a rod holder to your kayak, or you may just wonder how strong are Wavewalk kayaks and boats built. More generally, how well do aluminum rivets work when used in kayaks?

Before going further, we need to explain that nearly all modern kayaks are made from Polyethylene, a polymer (plastic resin) softer than steel and aluminum, and even softer than fiberglass, which is why it requires the use of special rivets that split in three and provide a better grip over a broader surface. These rivets go under commercial names such as Tri-Fold, Tribex, etc.

Alumium rivets are used for attaching kayak parts together, such as the 14 rivets that attach the W700 Saddle part to the Twinhull part. They are also used for attaching accessories such as handles, pad-eyes (eyelets), etc.

Here is a little experiment we did –

We riveted together two pieces of Polyethylene that we cut from a part of a Wavewalk kayak. We used just one rivet for this. We hung one end of the joint pieces of plastic from a basketball pole, and on the other end we hung a fish scale. We hung a travel bag from the fish scale, and filled the bag with bricks. We stopped after ten bricks, because the dial on the fish scale had ran full circle, and stopped at 50 lbs. At this point, neither the plastic pieces nor the rivet showed any sign of stress.

Needless to say that the effectiveness of a rivet depends on more than just the force applied on it in lbs, and additional factors are very important, such as the angle of the force (vector), leverage (a critical factor), the temperature of the plastic (hot plastic is softer), etc. If we had attached the parts in this experiment differently, we would have seen different results.